South African Open Championship Betting Tips 2026: Home Favorites And A Tour-Leading Titan

A blue sky background with images of Jayden Schaper, Patrick Reed and Thriston Lawrence, our expert best bets at the South African Open Championship 2026.

With Bazza's Best Bets for the Cognizant Classic already justified, it's time to switch our attention to proceedings on the DP World Tour.

The South African Open Championship returns to the stunning Stellenbosh Golf Club for the first time since 1999 and we have a an interesting field fighting it out for the title.

Patrick Reed leads the charge after two wins and a runner-up finish in his last three events, while the likes of home favourites Jayden Schaper and Thriston Lawrence will be pushing hard to claim their national open.

With plenty of value throughout the odds board, our betting experts at Golf Monthly HQ have been crunching the numbers and following the trends in a bid to find a winner for you this week...

South African Open Championship Betting Tips 2026

Jayden Schaper has already won twice this season but he could make it hat trick on home soil (Image credit: Getty Images)

Pick One: Jayden Schaper To Win @ BetMGM

With a form card like Schaper's right now, how can you ignore him in his national open?

The South African won the Alfred Dunhill Championship, which offers plenty of correlation to this event, but he also won in Mauritius the week after and has banked two further top-10 finishes since.

With a difficult stretch of long par-4s, playing those holes well will be crucial this week.

Schaper ranks 8th for par-4 scoring this season and is reasonably accurate off the tee, so he has a great chance to add a third DP World Tour title of the season on home soil.

Pick Two: Nathan Kimsey To Win @ BetMGM

Nathan Kimsey has had a very impressive start to 2026, with a T5 in Kenya last week and a T9 in Bahrain a couple of starts ago.

The Englishman also closed witha 65 at the Alfred Dunhill Championship earlier this year and was 11th in that event last season - highlighting an ability to play well on this type of track in this part of the world.

Kimsey also ranked 1st for driving accuracy in Kenya, and 9th for the season so far, so should suit this strategic test at Stellenbosh GC.

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Patrick Reed has finished inside the top-2 on three consecutive starts (Image credit: Getty Images)

Pick One: Patrick Reed To Win @ BetMGM

It's an obvious pick, but I rarely pick the favorite so, on a course where information is limited, I think it's safe to go with my head and pick the best player who is playing the best golf.

The American's form has been incredible on the DP World Tour, with Reed registering two wins and a runner-up finish in his last three starts.

He's been dominating on the circuit and, on a course where accuracy is the must-have trait, I fancy the Major winner to make it a hattrick of wins, especially as he sits second in greens in regulation for 2026 and possesses an incredible short game.

Pick Two: Ben Schmidt To Win Or Top-10 Finish @ BetMGM

I feel there will be plenty of South Africans in contention this week but, because I'm different, I'm going for an Englishman in Ben Schmidt, who has produced excellent back-to-back results in his most recent DP World Tour starts.

Having stepped in for Lee Westwood on the LIV Golf League recently, he managed a T16th at the Bahrain Championship pre-LIV, as well as a T14th at the Magical Kenya Open last week.

His short game stats read well and, with his all-round game very solid, this might be another week we see Schmidt challenge the top 10.

Thriston Lawrence has the game to win at Stellenbosch GC (Image credit: Getty Images)

Pick One: Jayden Schaper To Win @ BetMGM

Each of the past seven winners of the South African Open Championship have hailed from the home nation, so it makes sense for both of my picks this year to also be South African.

The first of the two is arguably the most in-form South African on tour at the moment with two wins just before the turn of the year and two top-10s in 2026.

His game isn't the longest, but neither is the newly renovated Stellenbosch, therefore I expect Schaper to remain competitive and be well in the hunt come Sunday.

Pick Two: Thriston Lawrence To Win @ BetMGM

The beauty of Thriston Lawrence's game is that he is capable of winning on all types of golf courses all over the world.

This tree-lined layout in South Africa won't worry Lawrence after his victory at the European Masters last year, although a slightly disappointing T29th in Kenya last week on a similar course will hopefully prove to be just a blip.

As a past winner of this championship in 2023, Lawrence knows he has the ability to cut through the high-quality field and win.

I'm backing his talent and experience to come through, helping him pull a world-class performance out once again and challenge on Sunday

Golf Monthly Expert Betting Panel Winning Picks (Since Start Of 2025)

Player	Event	Price	GM Staff Member
Richard Mansell	Porsche Singapore Classic 2025	+6000	Matt Cradock
Sami Valimaki	RSM Classic 2025	+5500	Jonny Leighfield
Patrick Reed	Dubai Desert Classic 2026	+4000	Elliott Heath
Eugenio Chacarra	Hero Indian Open 2025	+3500	Elliott Heath
Sergio Garcia	LIV Golf Hong Kong 2025	+2200	Jonny Leighfield
Ludvig Aberg	Genesis Invitational 2025	+2200	Matt Cradock
Laurie Canter	Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship 2025	+2200	Jonny Leighfield/Matt Cradock
Matt Fitzpatrick	DP World Tour Championship 2025	+1600	Matt Cradock
David Puig	BMW Australian PGA Championship 2025	+1400	Jonny Leighfield
Tommy Fleetwood	Tour Championship 2025	+1200	Jonny Leighfield
Ben Griffin	World Wide Technology Championship 2025	+1200	Baz Plummer/Jonny Leighfield
Joaquin Niemann	LIV Golf UK 2025	+900	Matt Cradock
Tyrrell Hatton	Hero Dubai Desert Classic 2025	+900	Jonny Leighfield
Joaquin Niemann	LIV Golf Virginia 2025	+750	Jonny Leighfield
Rory McIlroy	The Masters 2025	+650	Baz Plummer
Tommy Fleetwood	DP World India Championship 2025	+650	Baz Plummer/Jonny Leighfield
Scottie Scheffler	PGA Championship 2025	+400	Matt Cradock/Elliott Heath
Rory McIlroy	Amgen Irish Open 2025	+400	Jonny Leighfield